21 years ago was born Enric Mas in a small village of Mallorca called Artà where people know each other, in the little mountains of the 'Sierra de Levante'

It was 2006 when a very young Enric took the bicycle for the first time persuaded by a dear friend, in this way the enthusiastic guy began his idyll with the sport of champs and villains... only a couple of months later he was entering the first competition.

That kid had something special within himself, a sharp charismatic character and stunning smile, like his unique idol Alberto Contador. First year junior racer was enough for him to crown Spanish Time Trial Champion in the Hoznayo route of 17 kilometres long. Won the Cantabrian circuit and the Tour of Pamplona also with a complete exhibition. Enric Mas dazzled all specialists and incredolous analysts in his first season on the category. He finished 2012 at the Worlds, where he suffered an inopportune crash on the last kms of the road race.

Then Enric Mas obtained his well deserved reward, was signing Alberto Contador Foundation for the next two years. The great results and supersensations continue taking place and Enric would meet and ride with Alberto at the important Bormio training stage together with other teammates already as a u23 category rider. In the ascent of Gavia Contador forced a really high pace dropping more than 50 riders one by one until he left alone... or not. There was the chosen one, the kid Enric Mas, climbing next to his hero. Finished the day, an amazed Contador would praise Enric in public.

So two years later Enric Mas is riding for Klein Constantia a top level international calendar for the first time in his career and he has already won the Volta ao Alentejo in a non suited route, the Tour Pays de Savoie before Geoghegan Hart shinning on the TT and being the strongest and most agressive climber on the queen stage, and he would have clearly won the Giro Valle d'Aosta if he would have avoid a flat tyre on the top of Saint Pantaleon that cost him two minutes of loss with the leader Frankiny, time he impressively recovered on the final ascent to Cervinia in a SUPERdemonstration... Not sufficient though for the overall victory.

Super engine, well equipped for all sort of climbs, nice time trial and smart strategically. Also very ambitious rider, aspect that i consider really important nowadays, i've seen him so disappointed with a 2° place in a prestigious junior race.

I also believe in Mas, he has a lot of good results in the international U23 races in which the Spanish riders (who havent turn pro yet) often struggle. He impressed me a lot this year and certainly looking forward to how he will do in the future.

Not just "good" results, he had a brilliant year so far and he can continue down this road if he wins the Tour d'Alsace. Queen stage tomorrow and he's the big favorite alongside Frankiny & Reyes. Maybe he's just preparing for the Tour de l'Avernir though, just like he was preparing for Savoie/Aosta in the Peace Race.

Not sure if Etixx is the best team for him though. Their record with GC riders isn't that great and they already have a phenomenal talent with De Plus.

Samamba wrote:Not just "good" results, he had a brilliant year so far and he can continue down this road if he wins the Tour d'Alsace. Queen stage tomorrow and he's the big favorite alongside Frankiny & Reyes. Maybe he's just preparing for the Tour de l'Avernir though, just like he was preparing for Savoie/Aosta in the Peace Race.

Not sure if Etixx is the best team for him though. Their record with GC riders isn't that great and they already have a phenomenal talent with De Plus.

By the moment anything tells me De Plus is potentially better climber and more interesting prospect than Mas. De Plus is not doing bad at the moment taking into acount he's a neoprofessional rider, but as a gifted climber he has never dominated on the mountains or stage races in any category. And Mas is doing it this year. Actually the spaniard is more complete rider. Like KyoGrey i think is a great decission signing with Ettix skipping Movistar, he will get free role to show GT contender abilities.

Samamba wrote:Not just "good" results, he had a brilliant year so far and he can continue down this road if he wins the Tour d'Alsace. Queen stage tomorrow and he's the big favorite alongside Frankiny & Reyes. Maybe he's just preparing for the Tour de l'Avernir though, just like he was preparing for Savoie/Aosta in the Peace Race.

Not sure if Etixx is the best team for him though. Their record with GC riders isn't that great and they already have a phenomenal talent with De Plus.

By the moment anything tells me De Plus is potentially better climber and more interesting prospect than Mas. De Plus is not doing bad at the moment taking into acount he's a neoprofessional rider, but as a gifted climber he has never dominated on the mountains or stage races in any category. And Mas is doing it this year. Actually the spaniard is more complete rider. Like KyoGrey i think is a great decission signing with Ettix skipping Movistar, he will get free role to show GT contender abilities.

More complete? De Plus has a massive engine for his age and has a decent TT. Don't forget that De Plus is the same age as Mas and already a pro. He was almost as good last year as Mas is right now. No he didn't dominate but he was 2nd in Isard, 2nd in Aosta (behind the unbeatable Power and in front of Frankiny), 4th in the Peace Race, 6th in Alsace and 2nd in GC before fading a little bit on the last day in the Tour de l'Avenir. I didn't see Mas getting results like that in his second year as a U23 rider. It probably has something to do with the fact that he was still riding in a smaller team ofcourse, but still. You can't use the argument that De Plus wasn't winning everything (btw, Mas didn't win Aosta, Frankiny did, the same guy that couldn't follow De Plus last year) to say that Mas is the better or more complete rider cause De Plus was a year younger in his last year as a U23 rider.

I'm not saying that Mas isn't the bigger talent. Who knows, but De Plus is a phenomenal talent and maybe more importantly Belgian. There is a possibility that Lefevre will give him more chances cause he knows that Belgium is dying for a new GC worthy rider. The commercial advantages that something like that would entail for a Belgian team are huge. That being said, you're absolutely right that Movistar wouldn't be team for him either.

Samamba wrote:Not just "good" results, he had a brilliant year so far and he can continue down this road if he wins the Tour d'Alsace. Queen stage tomorrow and he's the big favorite alongside Frankiny & Reyes. Maybe he's just preparing for the Tour de l'Avernir though, just like he was preparing for Savoie/Aosta in the Peace Race.

Not sure if Etixx is the best team for him though. Their record with GC riders isn't that great and they already have a phenomenal talent with De Plus.

By the moment anything tells me De Plus is potentially better climber and more interesting prospect than Mas. De Plus is not doing bad at the moment taking into acount he's a neoprofessional rider, but as a gifted climber he has never dominated on the mountains or stage races in any category. And Mas is doing it this year. Actually the spaniard is more complete rider. Like KyoGrey i think is a great decission signing with Ettix skipping Movistar, he will get free role to show GT contender abilities.

More complete? De Plus has a massive engine for his age and has a decent TT. Don't forget that De Plus is the same age as Mas and already a pro. He was almost as good last year as Mas is right now. No he didn't dominate but he was 2nd in Isard, 2nd in Aosta (behind the unbeatable Power and in front of Frankiny), 4th in the Peace Race, 6th in Alsace and 2nd in GC before fading a little bit on the last day in the Tour de l'Avenir. I didn't see Mas getting results like that in his second year as a U23 rider. It probably has something to do with the fact that he was still riding in a smaller team ofcourse, but still. You can't use the argument that De Plus wasn't winning everything (btw, Mas didn't win Aosta, Frankiny did, the same guy that couldn't follow De Plus last year) to say that Mas is the better or more complete rider cause De Plus was a year younger in his last year as a U23 rider.

I'm not saying that Mas isn't the bigger talent. Who knows, but De Plus is a phenomenal talent and maybe more importantly Belgian. There is a possibility that Lefevre will give him more chances cause he knows that Belgium is dying for a new GC worthy rider. The commercial advantages that something like that would entail for a Belgian team are huge. That being said, you're absolutely right that Movistar wouldn't be team for him either.

Yes is more complete like stage racer, Mas is a TT champion showing very competitive this year on the discipline and De Plus has never won a Time Trial in his life. De Plus did a great season last year no doubt but he wasnt even close to win a stage race. At the moment Mas has compete in 5 and have won 2, that could be 3 counting Valle d'Aosta if its not for a unfortunate mechanical.

The only thing in which De Plus beats Mas right now in my opinion is in precociousness. For me De Plus is the typical case of slightly overrated rider that gets a lot of attention "only" for taking honour places in top races with a very poor balance of victories throghout all his career that then facing the true moment impact with reality. Saving exceptional cases i'ts extremely difficult to see a rider learning how to win and be a champion at professional category. Hope i am wrong.

I think 21 is probably too young to guess what will become of them, especially GC riders. You typically don't want to take the Gesink trajectory. Get 7th in your first GT at 22, only to never get higher than 6th in a GT either.

Kwibus wrote:So much questions they have. Answers they will never get.So why questions? If no answers? -Kwibus, one of the great philosophers of the 21st century

Samamba wrote:Not just "good" results, he had a brilliant year so far and he can continue down this road if he wins the Tour d'Alsace. Queen stage tomorrow and he's the big favorite alongside Frankiny & Reyes. Maybe he's just preparing for the Tour de l'Avernir though, just like he was preparing for Savoie/Aosta in the Peace Race.

Not sure if Etixx is the best team for him though. Their record with GC riders isn't that great and they already have a phenomenal talent with De Plus.

By the moment anything tells me De Plus is potentially better climber and more interesting prospect than Mas. De Plus is not doing bad at the moment taking into acount he's a neoprofessional rider, but as a gifted climber he has never dominated on the mountains or stage races in any category. And Mas is doing it this year. Actually the spaniard is more complete rider. Like KyoGrey i think is a great decission signing with Ettix skipping Movistar, he will get free role to show GT contender abilities.

More complete? De Plus has a massive engine for his age and has a decent TT. Don't forget that De Plus is the same age as Mas and already a pro. He was almost as good last year as Mas is right now. No he didn't dominate but he was 2nd in Isard, 2nd in Aosta (behind the unbeatable Power and in front of Frankiny), 4th in the Peace Race, 6th in Alsace and 2nd in GC before fading a little bit on the last day in the Tour de l'Avenir. I didn't see Mas getting results like that in his second year as a U23 rider. It probably has something to do with the fact that he was still riding in a smaller team ofcourse, but still. You can't use the argument that De Plus wasn't winning everything (btw, Mas didn't win Aosta, Frankiny did, the same guy that couldn't follow De Plus last year) to say that Mas is the better or more complete rider cause De Plus was a year younger in his last year as a U23 rider.

I'm not saying that Mas isn't the bigger talent. Who knows, but De Plus is a phenomenal talent and maybe more importantly Belgian. There is a possibility that Lefevre will give him more chances cause he knows that Belgium is dying for a new GC worthy rider. The commercial advantages that something like that would entail for a Belgian team are huge. That being said, you're absolutely right that Movistar wouldn't be team for him either.

Yes is more complete like stage racer, Mas is a TT champion showing very competitive this year on the discipline and De Plus has never won a Time Trial in his life. De Plus did a great season last year no doubt but he wasnt even close to win a stage race. At the moment Mas has compete in 5 and have won 2, that could be 3 counting Valle d'Aosta if its not for a unfortunate mechanical.

The only thing in which De Plus beats Mas right now in my opinion is in precociousness. For me De Plus is the typical case of slightly overrated rider that gets a lot of attention "only" for taking honour places in top races with a very poor balance of victories throghout all his career that then facing the true moment impact with reality. Saving exceptional cases i'ts extremely difficult to see a rider learning how to win and be a champion at professional category. Hope i am wrong.

Again, you're (probably on purpose) looking over the fact that De Plus was a year younger than Mas when he set those results. No doubt that he would've won at least one stage race this year if he didn't go pro this year. Mas wasn't a winner either till this year.

Samamba wrote:Not just "good" results, he had a brilliant year so far and he can continue down this road if he wins the Tour d'Alsace. Queen stage tomorrow and he's the big favorite alongside Frankiny & Reyes. Maybe he's just preparing for the Tour de l'Avernir though, just like he was preparing for Savoie/Aosta in the Peace Race.

Not sure if Etixx is the best team for him though. Their record with GC riders isn't that great and they already have a phenomenal talent with De Plus.

By the moment anything tells me De Plus is potentially better climber and more interesting prospect than Mas. De Plus is not doing bad at the moment taking into acount he's a neoprofessional rider, but as a gifted climber he has never dominated on the mountains or stage races in any category. And Mas is doing it this year. Actually the spaniard is more complete rider. Like KyoGrey i think is a great decission signing with Ettix skipping Movistar, he will get free role to show GT contender abilities.

More complete? De Plus has a massive engine for his age and has a decent TT. Don't forget that De Plus is the same age as Mas and already a pro. He was almost as good last year as Mas is right now. No he didn't dominate but he was 2nd in Isard, 2nd in Aosta (behind the unbeatable Power and in front of Frankiny), 4th in the Peace Race, 6th in Alsace and 2nd in GC before fading a little bit on the last day in the Tour de l'Avenir. I didn't see Mas getting results like that in his second year as a U23 rider. It probably has something to do with the fact that he was still riding in a smaller team ofcourse, but still. You can't use the argument that De Plus wasn't winning everything (btw, Mas didn't win Aosta, Frankiny did, the same guy that couldn't follow De Plus last year) to say that Mas is the better or more complete rider cause De Plus was a year younger in his last year as a U23 rider.

I'm not saying that Mas isn't the bigger talent. Who knows, but De Plus is a phenomenal talent and maybe more importantly Belgian. There is a possibility that Lefevre will give him more chances cause he knows that Belgium is dying for a new GC worthy rider. The commercial advantages that something like that would entail for a Belgian team are huge. That being said, you're absolutely right that Movistar wouldn't be team for him either.

He lost Aosta because of a mechanical, he lost one minute because of it and was still able to catch Frankiny (who couldn't follow Padun and Ravasi and cracked). Frankiny was a bit lucky, Padun also lost lots of time on the penultimate stage because of a mechanical on the descent before the final climb, he deserved to win the race because of his attack on stage 4, but he was a bit lucky, while the other 2 guys on the podium had a bit of bad luck.Bck to Mas, his climbing style really reminds me of Contador.